Leaf baling press



May 21, 1968 o. L. HOLT LEAF BALING PRESS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 11. 1966 INVENTOR. Omar L. Half- W4, zwzfltw Arrarney.

May 21, 1968 o. 1.. HOLT 3,384,008

LEAF BAL ING PRES S Umar L. Half A fro/"nay.

United States Patent Omce 3,384,ii68 Patented May 21, 1968 3,384,008 LEAF BALENG PRESS Omer L. Holt, Rte. 2, Lockwood, Mo. 65282 Filed May 11, 1966, Ser. No. 549,307 3 Claims. (Cl. 100-279) ABSTRACT OF THE DHSCLOSURE A leaf baling press comprising an elongated, essentially tubular housing, a pair of pressure plates disposed in said housing normally to the axis thereof, one of said plates being fixed and the other being movable toward said fixed plate, and manually operable means for moving said movable plate toward said fixed plate, said means being operable to provide a progressively increasing mechanical advantage as said movable plate moves closer to said fixed plate.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in baling presses, and has particular reference to a simple, manually operated press particularly suited for pressing and baling dry leaves which have been raked from lawns, waste paper and the like, although it will be readily apparent that it could be used in connection with other materials. The device is particularly useful in connection with leaves, waste paper and other compressible trash in urban areas, where the burning of such material is often forbidden by ordinance as constituting a fire hazard.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of a baling press of the character described wherein the baling pressure plates are moved relatively toward each other by manually movable operating means to compress material interposed therebetween, the connection between said operating means and said plates being such that said plates move relatively rapidly and with relatively small force during the initial phases of the baling operation, but with slower speed and greater force during the latter phases of the baling operation, whereby to provide more convenient and eificient operation.

Another object is the provision of a baling press of the character described wherein the compressed bale of material may be easily and conveniently bound by wires or other ties while still under full compression.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, efiiciency and dependability of operation, and adaptability for use in a wide variety of applications.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a leaf baling press embodying the present invention, with the pressure plates thereof contracted to their minimum spacing,

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the press as shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a top elevational View of the press as shown in FIG. 1, showing the bale rem-oval door opened in dotted lines and closed in solid lines,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line IV-IV of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line V-V of FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line VI-VI of FIG. 1, showing a bale fully compressed and bound, preparatory to removal thereof from the press, and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line VlIVlI of FIG. 3, showing the pressure plates of the press separated to their Widest extent.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several views, and the numeral 2 applies generally to the housing of the baling press, said housing being generally tubular and of rectangular horizontal cross-sectional contour, and being vertically elongated, including a back wall 4 formed of vertically extending slats 6 spaced apart to form slots 8 therebetween, a pair of side walls It), and a front wall 12 also formed of vertically extending slats 14 spaced apart to form slots 16 therebetween. Said front wall extends from the bottom of the housing to a point about midway in the height thereof. The walls thus far described are rigidly and permanently assembled by any suitable means, and are also suitably reinforced.

The portion of the housing above front wall 12 is closed by a door 18 also comprising vertically extending slats 20 spaced apart to form slots 22 therebetween. Slots 22 are aligned vertically with slots 16 of front wall 12, and are aligned from front to rear of the housing with slots 8 of back wall 4. The door is hinged for horizontal movement to the forward edge of one of side walls 10, as by pivot pin 24, so as to be swingable outwardly as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3, and may be secured releasably in its closed position by a latch 26 (see FIG. 1), secured to the free edge of the door and engageable with a keeper 28 aflixed to the forward edge of the adjacent side wall 10. Said latch may be of any suitable type. At its upper free corner, the door has a stop block 30 (see FIG. 3) affixed thereto, so as to engage the outer surface of the adjacent side wall 10 when the door is closed, whereby the door serves to secure the side walls against spreading under the internal baling pressure.

The upper end of the housing is closed by a horizontal top pressure plate 32 fitting loosely into the top portion thereof, said pressure plate being afiixed to a pair of parallel, spaced apart beams 34 extending transversely across the top of the housing and projecting outwardly from both sides theerof, said beams being engaged loosely in notches 36 formed in the upper edges of side Walls 10. Affixed to the lower surface of pressure plate 32 are a plurality of slats 33 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) extending from front to rear and spaced apart to form grooves 40 there'between, said grooves being aligned with slots 8 of back wall 4 and slots 16 and 2.2 of front wall 12 and door 18.

The effective floor of the housing is formed by a hori* zontal bottom pressure plate 42 engaging loosely in the lower portion of the housing, and having afiixed thereto a pair of parallel, spaced apart horizontal beams 44 which extend laterally of the housing and project outwardly from both sides thereof, projecting through vertically elongated slots 46 formed in the side walls, whereby said bottom pressure plate may be moved vertically in the housing, the upper limit of its movement being substantially fiush with the upper edge of front wall 12 and the lower edge of door 18. Pressure plate 42 has a series of slats 48 affixed to the upper face thereof, extending from front to rear and spaced apart to provide grooves 50 therebetween, said grooves being vertically aligned with grooves 40 of the top pressure plate, and with slots 8, 16., and 22.

Lower pressure plate 42 may be urged forcibly upwardly toward top pressure plate 32 by means interconnecting the extended ends of beams 34 and 44 at each side of the housing. Spaced outwardly from each side of the housing, upper beams 34 support a stub axle 52 extending transversely thereto, said shaft resting removably and rotatably in semi-cylindrical cradles 54 formed therefor in the upper edges of said beams. Fixed eccentrically on each of said shafts is a cylindrical drum 56. Fixed to each of said drums is an elongated rigid handle 58. Aifixed to the periphery of each of said drums, as at 60, is one end of a flexible strap 62, said strap depending between the associated drum and housing 2. The lower end of each strap is secured about a horizontally extending bar 64. A pair of rods 66 have their upper ends inserted through holes formed therefor respectively adjacent the opposite ends of said bar, each rod being secured by a nut 68 threaded thereon above said bar. Said rods extend downwardly, and the lower end portions thereof extend through holes formed therefor respectively in the associated end portions of lower beams 44, said rods being secured in said lower beams by nuts 70 threaded thereon beneath said beams.

In use, top pressure plate 32 is lifted free of the housing after first disengaging shafts 52 from beams 34 of said pressure plate, so that bottom pressure plate 42 moves to the lower limit of its travel by gravity, this position being shown in FIG. 7. Then with forward door 18 secured closed by latch 26, dry leaves 72 or other materials to be baled are stuffed into the top of the housing until said housing is completely full, said leaves preferably being packed as tight as possible by hand. Top pressure plate 32 is then laid .in place, engaging beams 34- thereof in notches 36 of the housing side walls, and drum shafts 52 are engaged in cradle notches 54 of said beams, with handles 58 turned to rest on the top surface of pressure plate 32, the parts then having the relative positions shown in FIG. 7. It will be seen that straps 62 are slack at this time, so that they will not interfere with the easy placement of shafts 52 in cradles 54.

Handles 58 are then pivoted upwardly and outwardly, then downwardly to the positions shown in FIG. 1, whereby to rotate drums 56 to wind straps 62 thereon, and thus to elevate lower pressure plate 42 to compress the leaves 72 into a compact bale as shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 7, it will be seen that as handles 58 are pivoted upwardly and outwardly to substantially vertical positions, belts 62 will be down tau-t. At this time, said belts engage the drums substantially at points A thereof, these being the points of said drums farthest from shafts 52. Hence at this time the mechanical advantage of the handle and drum, represented by the ratio of the length of the handle to the distance from shaft 52 to the point at which the belt engages the drum periphery, is at its minimum. However, it is also true that in this zone of handle movement, a given angular movement of the handle will wind a maximum length of the straps onto the drum, and thus elevate lower pressure plate 42 to the greatest degree. Therefore, during the initial elevating movement of plate 42, the drums and handles produce a low-power, high-speed movement of plate 42. This is considered desirable, since the leaves are comparatively loosely packed at this time, and plate 42 can therefore be moved with relatively little force. The high-speed movement is desirable to save time. As the upward movement of plate 42 is continued by outward and downward pivotal movement of handles 58, however, straps 62 engage drtuns 56 at points closer and closer to shafts 52, due to the eccentricity of said drums, until they engage points B of said drums when handle-s 58 reach their lowermost positions as shown in FIG. 1. Points B are the points of the drum peripheries closest to shafts 52, so that the mechanical advantage of the press, represented by the ratio of the length of each handle to the distance from the axis of shaft 52 to point B of each drum, is at its maximum, although the distance plate 4% 42 will be elevated for a given angular movement of the handles is correspondingly reduced, whereby to produce a high-power, low-speed action. Thus the force with which pressure plate 42 will be moved by a given manual force exerted on handles 58 gradually increases as the healing operation proceeds, and this is of course desirable since the force required increases as the leaves become more and more compressed. With the parts proportioned as shown, a given force on handles 58 will move pressure plate 4-2 with a force approximately three times as great at the completion of its stroke as at the beginning thereof.

When handles 58 have been forced to their downwardly extending positions, as shown in FIG. 1, whereby to complete the compression of leaves 72 as shown in FIG. 6, said handles each engage the inclined outer face 74 (see FIG. 5) of a latch tooth 76 which is fixed to the outer end of a resilient arm '78 afiixed to the adjacent side wall 10 of the housing, thereby deflecting said tooth and being engaged therebehind as shown in FIG. 5. This locks the pressure plate 42 in it elevated position. It is of course desirable that pressure plate 4-2 be elevated to its fullest extent at this time, flush with the lower edge of housing door 18 as shown in FIG. 6. To insure this occurrence, the effective lengths of tie rods 66 may be adjusted by turning nuts 68 thereon.

Latch 26 is then released and door 18 opened, and as shown in FIG. 6, the bale of leaves 72 may be bound by one or more wires 80. Each wire is inserted through one of slots 8 of rear housing wall 4-, the ends thereof being inserted forwardly through the corresponding grooves 40 and 5d of the top and bottom pressure plates 32 and 42, and twisted together at the forward face of the bale, as at 32. With leaves, waste paper and the like, door 18 may be opened as described, after the compression is completed, without said material falling or appreciably bulging through the door opening. If the material is such that this bulging would occur, Wires 89 could be inserted with door 18 closed, by threading the wire ends additionally through the slots 22 of said door, and twisting them together within said slots. The structure shown is adapted to permit the binding of the bale with three regularly spaced wires, but provisions for a greater or smaller number of wires could obviously be made if desired.

After wires 80 are attached, latch teeth 76 are released, handles 58 are pivoted back to the positions thereof shown in FIG. 7, drum shafts 52 are lifted free of cradles 54 of beams 34, and top pressure plate 32 is removed. The bale of leaves may then be lifted upwardly and forwardly from the housing.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A baling press for leaves and the like comprising:

(a) an elongated, essentially tubular housing,

(b) a pair of pressure plates disposed in said housing normally to the axis thereof to form end walls for said housing, one of said end walls being fixed and the other being movable toward said fixed plate, and

(c) operating means interconnecting said pressure plates and operable to move said movable plate toward said fixed plate, whereby to compress material deposited in said housing between said pressure plates, said operating means comprising a cylindrical drum carried rotatably by one of said pressure plates on an axis eccentric thereto and transverse to the longitudinal extent of said housing, manually operable means for rotating said drum about its eccentric axis, a flexible strap secured at one end to the periphery of said drum whereby to be wound thereon as said drum is turned, said strap extending from said drum in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal extent 5 6 of said housing, and means connecting the opposite means for rotating said drum comprises an elongated hanend of said strap to the other of said pressure plates, dle affixed at one end to said drum and extending genthe eccentricity of said drum being such that the ei'l'ecerally radially therefrom. tive radius thereof, measured from the axis thereof to the point on the periphery thereof at which said strap 5 References Cited is engaged thereby, progressively decreases as said UNITED STATES PATENTS pressure plates are moved relatively closer together.

2. A baling press as recited in claim 1 wherein said 11,472 8/1854 Chapman 100279XR means attaching the opposite end of said strap to the other 109,653 11/ 1870 Newman 100-279 XR of said pressure plates is adjustable to vary the spacing be- 10 244,448 7/ 1881 Grant 100279 XR tween said pressure plates independently of the angular 1,049,889 1/ 1913 Marx 100-255 XR position of said drum.

3. A baling press as recited in claim 1 wherein said BILLY J. WILHITE, Primary Examiner. 

